1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is generally related to mobile applications, and more particularly related to cross-platform mobile applications that execute on mobile devices having different operating platforms.
2. Background Art
As the popularity of mobile devices grows, so does the need for mobile applications that allow users to receive, review, and update data. Mobile applications grew from simple applications targeting an individual device, to complex applications that retrieve and transmit data from complex back-end systems to a variety of mobile devices. This constant access to data allows users to use the mobile devices as functional and essential business tools.
As the popularity of the mobile devices grew, many different types of computing devices became available to the users. Those mobile devices may operate on different operating platforms, each platform having its own specifications, libraries, etc. As a result, a mobile application that executes on one operating platform is often not compatible with other operating platforms.
When an application developer designs a mobile application, the mobile application must be compatible with an operating platform executing on a mobile device. To ensure compatibility of a mobile application with multiple mobile devices, application developers are forced to design multiple versions of a mobile application, where each version is compatible with a particular operating platform. Often, each version is designed in a different programming language that acts as an interface between the mobile application and the operating platform of a mobile device. This causes a waste in time and resources as the same mobile application is written in multiple versions. Additionally, developing multiple versions of the same mobile application may require multiple developers, as one developer may not have technical know-how to develop the same mobile application in multiple programming languages or understand the intricacies associated with each operating platform.
To avoid designing and maintaining multiple versions of the same mobile application, application developers attempted to use Extensive Markup Language (“XML”) and metadata to design one instance of a mobile application that is compatible with multiple operating platforms. However, designing mobile applications using XML and metadata is limiting because those mobile applications often lack flexibility and customization necessary to design competitive display screens, forms and controls.
Therefore, what is needed is an improved approach for designing a cross-platform mobile application that executes on multiple operating platforms.